I want to thank Rose Reisman for donating a copy of her latest cookbook Rose Reisman’s Family Favorites for my birthday blog giveaway! Thanks to her a lucky reader will win a copy and get to make these astounding Mocha Brownies, along with many other fantastic foodie treats.
You can read my review of Rose’s cookbook here. I really appreciate Rose’s flavour profile and the fact that she successfully makes such delicious low fat food. She is a miracle worker with food!
You can find Rose recipe for her mocha brownies here too. Combine 2/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, 1 eggs, 1 tsp vanilla and 1 tbsp of instant coffee that has been dissolved in 2 tsp of hot water. I used instant espresso powder. Add 1/2 cup of cocoa powder and mix well.
Add 1/3 cup of flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/3 cup low-fat yogurt or sour cream and 1/4 cup of semisweet chocolate chips. Do not overmix.
Pour into an 8″ square baking pan that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Bake for 15-18 minutes in a 350F preheated oven until just set. Do not overbake. Cool.
I took mine out after 15 minutes. I have a tendency to overbake brownies and that just ruins them! Rose has a recipe for a cream cheese icing but I actually just wanted to eat the brownie as-is.
These brownies were so soft and delicious. My husband actually ate them with a fork, they were that tender. More cake-like than dense but definitely more moist and delicious than many brownies I have made before with mounts of butter in them. Another fantastic and impressive treat. I give this recipe four out of five wooden spoons.
CONTEST
I am not entirely sure yet if this contest is open to residents of the U.S. (working on it) but I wanted to open it up right away. As a result, please comment and say if you are living in Canada or the U.S. and also share your favourite healthy cooking or baking trick or ingredient.
Contest is only open to those who have not previously won big prizes. If you want to increase your chances of winning, please leave contact information. Those without profiles or have old blogs that have not been updated in a long time will not be entered if there is no email address associated with their profile. If you win, you must contact me within five days of winning the contest.
Please consider following my blog. Remember, the more followers, the more prizes! And you know I love to share.
Winner will be announced Wednesday morning. Good luck!
penKnife says
OMG! I love her recipes!!! Big fan of her TV appearances too.Would so enjoy having this book in my collection.
email: andtheniateit@hotmail.com
website: http://www.andtheniateit.com
Suzie Ridler says
Me too! Make sure to also tell me if you are in Canada and the U.S. please. I would appreciate it, thanks!
boobookitty says
Something I like to do when I make my banana bread is cut down the amount of sugar, especially if I add chocolate chips. I also replace some of the flour with ground flax seed. You really can’t tell the difference! 🙂
And, I live in Montrea. 🙂
lindsey says
Another great giveaway!
I like to add wheat germ or ground flax in most of my baking, or when I cook things like pancakes. It’s a great way to disguise some added nutrition.
Thanks Suzie!
MĂ©lodie says
I live in Gatineau, Québec!
I love pasta and I found that once in while, when I need to lower the weekly calorie intake or whatever, using shredded zucchnis or spaghetti squash still satisfy my cravings.
melodie1974@yahoo.ca
kenora says
Mélosiw, we’re neighbours! *waves from Ottawa*
I sometimes substitute plain yogurt for mayo in something like tuna salad. I so rarely use mayo that I quit buying it after tossing too many jars that had expired and had only one or two spoonsful taken from them. Yogurt is nearly always in the house, can be purchased in much smaller amounts, and if you make the salad when you make your sandwich, tastes just as good!
kenora says
I forgot to leave my email.
ksorgenfrie AT gmail dot com
And Mélodie, my apologies for mangling your name in my previous comment – my fingers were on the wrong keys. 🙂
AvaDJ says
Holy cow those look so chocolatey and decadent. This is truly a fabulous book from what I’ve seen of it. As for healthy tips, my motto is just to make as much food homemade/from scratch as possible. We really enjoy eating well so I’m not afraid to use things like butter and full fat cheese, but moderation and staying away from processed stuff is definitely a start. Oh yeah, lots of fresh fruits and veggies too!
spike says
Love Rose Reisman’s recipes – they always turn out! I’ll often add applesauce instead of the called for fat in baking – it makes muffins and loaves really moist. (I’m in Canada)
Tammy says
Those Brownies look amazing!! You know I’m a cookbook fiend – I’d love to win this one! 🙂 I’m in the US, so hoping I’m eligible!! durhamimms@gmail.com
Kristie Kohn says
I live in the US. I like to substitute 2/3 of the white flour in a recipe with whole wheat flour.
Foodie Frannie says
This comment has been removed by the author.
Foodie Frannie says
OMG those look amazing. I love brownies but never make them because they cause my pants to shrink.
My favourite healthy cooking trick is hard to choose. Having to feed Bev with her diabetes means I have many tricks and ingredients that help. One is low fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. I use that one a lot, especially on baked potato. As a rule I like to cook with high quality and full flavour ingredients which means I use less of the unnecessary ones like butter or cream.
Oh, I live in Canada… but you knew that. lol
Linda says
My hints have already been covered….plus I’ve learned a few new ones. Thanks everyone! Would love to win this cookbook — I’m from Canada.
lbschulzy(at)yahoo(dot)ca
Nic says
My healthy cooking tip is to choose a strong/sharp cheddar in any dish that calls for cheese so that I can cut down the amount I need to add. I’m in Canada.
ctoan72(at)gmail(dot)com
Teslaca says
To cut some fat, I like to use beans or tofu instead of meats in soups and salads. Also, using a well-seasoned cast iron pan lets me use much less oil than in a regular skillet. (I’m in the US.)
Tammy says
Hi!!! I love cookbooks!! And learning new ways to make it lite! Nowadays who isn’t trying to lower calories or fat! I’m from Montreal, Quebec! I like adding applesauce to my baking to cut in oil and sugar. Also using flaxseeds cooked then cooled and strained and used to replace eggs! It works great! So I hope I have a chance at this fantastic book! You can contact me at sam22@videotron.ca I will definitly respond!! Yayyy!!! I hope!!
Thanks!
Tammy
Nigel says
Hi Suzie, count me in too please (still in Ottawa).
As for my healthy cooking tip (don’t know if this qualifies) making your own pizza is a fantastic way to get great flavour and lower the fat. We use a whole wheat crust recipe, and make our own sauce too (food.com has a great recipe #114392). And we also usually try to have some sort of left over meat we can use (chicken breasts, shredded beef, it all seems to work wonderfully)
Sweetamyrae says
I will add a bit of milk to creamy thick salad dressings and pasta sauce to thin them out a bit so I can get more for less!!
I am in Canada!!
Mystica says
Dont count me in as I am neither US or Canada but that brownie looks scrumptious.
peppylady (Dora) says
If there any chance us South of boarder can possible be in your drawing.
Please add my name to your hat.
I’ll hit the facebook buttom I have a few Canadain readers.
Coffee is on.
Anonymous says
I’m from Canada!
my secret healthy baking trick is just add less sugar and fat than the recipe suggests! to be honest, most of the time, the little ratios don’t make a difference to the taste and flavour. but if you won’t to replicate your results, make sure you make note of how much you used.
vivi3chui@yahoo.ca
Lisa says
I’m from the US. My favorite baking trick is to bake muffins at 500F for the first five minutes, then immediately lower the heat to 350F for the rest of the time. It produces muffins with super high crowns.
Suzie Ridler says
Thank you for all the helpful tips, they rock! Winner will be chosen and announced soon. Good luck everyone!
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